For Black History Month this year, African descendants all over the world have something to celebrate–the actual making of history.

An historic event many of us thought we'd never see has actually come to be. Barack Obama was sworn in as the forty-fourth President of the United States.

The question that has yet to be answered, and rarely asked, is whether or not this event will change our lives.

I believe that it can only change our lives if we first change our minds.

Instead of discussing some great achievements by Black men or Black women, I'd like to discuss the great achievements that lie ahead of Africans in America. Those great achievements can only occur after we define ourselves with some practicality and foresight.

For example, some dead-brained Negroes claim that Barack Obama is not as important to us since he is the product of a White American mother and an African father. To them, he does not share the history we have, so he is not us.

To them I say, go straight to hell. And if any of their tiny little brains can process the thought, I ask what history do you think Africans have?

When it comes to Black History, most Africans in America start studying sometime around the beginning of the slave trade and bring it through to about the middle of the twentieth century. That's a very short history for a people with such a rich background.

The problem is that we either define ourselves based on our attachment to America, or based on our attachment to Africa. As a people, we become fragmented, because some of us want no attachment to Africa and some of us want no attachment to America.

Further compounding the problem are two facts: One, that racist Americans (including some self-hating Negroes) want to deny us the birthright to this nation purchased by the blood, sweat and tears of our slave ancestors. Two, that some confused and self-hating Africans want to deny us the birthright to the African continent based on our "impurity," after being mixed with other races over the centuries.

The argument really comes down to consciousness, because perception is reality. Whatever we perceive ourselves to be comes into existence. Our perception of ourselves does not have to be based on what the Devil's children in White or Black face deliver to us. Our perception of ourselves must be based on whatever we deliver to ourselves.

Personally, I believe that nearly every ethnicity in America except Blacks have it right. Italians are still Italian even if they speak no Italian and have never seen Italy. There are Polish people in this nation who define themselves as such even though the original Polish person in their family came to America four centuries ago.

But what of the African American? We are the only people in this nation who continue to redefine ourselves based on things outside of our consciousness.

Now, I already know that we are not a monolithic people. Some of us will go one way and some will go another. That having been said, if you are not with me, I'd like you to turn away, because I will not be speaking to you or for you.

I split African people from Black people in consciousness only. This is because they have two different ways of thinking. The Black man across the planet has embraced such titles as Negro, Colored, Afro-American, African American, Haitian, Jamaican, West Indian, Brazilian, etc. All of these titles are basically false, because travel to a land named "whatever" does not make you a person of "whatever" culture, or alter your cultural identity to "whatever." There is a physiology, a psychology and a spirituality that Africa delivers to the African across the globe whether you embrace it or not.

From nation to nation, we can feel the same musical rhythms, we can feel the same history of attack, oppression, separation and confusion and we can feel the same spirituality if we embrace these things. No matter where you happen to be born on the planet, there are things within you that make you the physical and spiritual manifestation of Africa. You can reject this ideology and become American, Canadian, or whatever, but reality is not your friend and you will continue to be confused while failing to evolve.

Black people who define themselves based solely on their land of residence are defining themselves based on self-perception, which is sad, because all of the lands outside of Africa continue to reject us, even as many of us attempt to embrace them.

People argue that we built America, and it is a great nation, so we should claim it as our own. I agree with that to a point, but because of the beautiful, rich and lengthy history of Africa, I would rather align myself with the history that begins on that continent than any nation.

As an American, Black history begins with slavery.

African history begins with civilization.

The first human civilizations sprung up off the coast of river valleys in the eastern region of Africa, such as the Nile. Africa became the center of mathematics and science, as well as religion. Our legacy has been obfuscated and stolen, but it is still there for us to claim.

The invasion of so-called Western Civilization brought confusion, including the confusion centered in our very definition of self.

We can embrace being Black, but only with the understanding that the most fundamental portion of being Black is being African. The most fundamental portion of being African is being balanced. Balance comes to us based on where we start our study.

Some people start studying history as Africans, and others start studying as Blacks. In both groups, many seem to concentrate on Black and/or African achievements without proper perspective. Without proper perspective–which involves an understanding of how an African or Black person arrived at their achievements–one can only marvel at the end result without having adequate information as to how these people arrived at the achievement.

We can trace many great inventions as well as math, science and art to Black people, but we will still have only a cursory attachment to those achievements as long as we fail to fully embrace an understanding of who those people were and how we are connected to them. That is why it is extremely important to embrace and celebrate the original consciousness of the African people, as opposed to focusing only on the achievements of these people after they arrived in America.

We should eventually free ourselves from titles and move toward consciousness, but the evolution has to begin somewhere. Black History Month, which began as Black History week is a great concept, but it should continue to evolve as our consciousness evolves.

African History Living should be year round, and the celebration must be a constant inward journey of our self to the root of our existence, beginning with the re-evaluation of the modern African under Western thought.

Yes, Black people, it is time for us to plan on creating Black History. That begins with defining ourselves.

Darryl Jamesis an award-winning author of the powerful new anthology "Notes From The Edge." He released his first mini-movie, "Crack," and will soon release his first full-length documentary. View previous installments of this column at www.bridgecolumn.proboards36.com. Reach James at djames@theBlackgendergap.com.

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